In the day of the great slaughter - When the enemies of the people of God shall have been destroyed - probably in a time subsequent to the slaughter of the army of the Assyrians.

When the towers fall - The towers of the enemy; perhaps referring here to the towers of Babylon. After they should fall, the Jews would be favored with the time of prosperity to which the prophet here refers.

When the towers fall "When the mighty fall" - מגדלים migdalim, μεγαλους, Sym.; μεγαλυνομενους, Aquila; רברבין rabrebin, Chard.; all signifying mighty sizes.

And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill,.... Which were round about Jerusalem, and in other parts of Judea:

rivers and streams of water; such abundance of rain, that it should flow in streams like rivers, from the higher to the lower lands, and water them. This may in a spiritual sense be understood of the great plenty of the ministry of the Gospel, in all the kingdoms of the world, great and small, signified by mountains and hills; and which may also intimate the open and public ministrations of it in them, Zechariah 14:8 or of the blessings of grace, and the graces of the Spirit, communicated everywhere; see Isaiah 41:18, John 7:38. This is applied to the times of the Messiah by the Jews (g) themselves, and respects the latter part of those times:

in the day of the great slaughter; not of Sennacherib's army by the angel, as many Jewish and Christian interpreters understand it; nor of the Babylonians, at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus; but of the antichristian kings, and their armies, Revelation 19:17. So the Targum paraphrases it,

"for the ruin of kings and their armies, in the day of the great slaughter;''

and a great slaughter it will be indeed:

when the towers fall; not the batteries and fortifications raised in the Assyrian camp, at the siege of Jerusalem, which fell when they were destroyed by the angel; or the great men and princes in that army, which then fell; though towers sometimes signify great persons, such as princes; see Isaiah 2:15 and so the Targum interprets it here; and may be true of the antichristian princes; for of the fall of the great city of Rome, and of other cities of the nations, with the towers thereof, is this to be understood, even of mystical, and not of literal Babylon; see Revelation 11:13.

(g) Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 212. 3.

And there shall be upon every high {x} mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

(x) By these various manners of speech he shows that the happiness of the Church will be so great, that no one is able sufficiently to express it.

30:25 Hill - Which is commonly dry and barren. In the day - When God shall destroy the enemies of his people. The towers - The mighty potentates, who fought against God's people.

high hill: Heb. lifted up, etc

25. Even the otherwise barren hills shall then be well-watered (Isa 44:3).

the day, &c.-when the disobedient among the Jews shall have been slain, as foretold in Isa 30:16: "towers," that is, mighty men (Isa 2:15). Or else, the towers of the Assyrian Sennacherib, or of Babylon, types of all enemies of God's people.

30:19-26 God's people will soon arrive at the Zion above, and then they will weep no more for ever. Even now they would have more comfort, as well as holiness, if they were more constant in prayer. A famine of bread is not so great a judgment as a famine of the word of God. There are right-hand and left-hand errors; the tempter is busy courting us into by-paths. It is happy if, by the counsels of a faithful minister or friend, or the checks of conscience, and the strivings of God the Spirit, we are set right when doubting, and prevented from going wrong. They shall be cured of their idolatry. To all true penitents sin becomes very hateful. This is shown daily in the conversion of souls, by the power of Divine grace, to the fear and love of God. Abundant means of grace, with the influences of the Holy Spirit, would be extended to places destitute of them. The effect of this should be comfort and joy to the people of God. Light, that is, knowledge, shall increase. This is the light which the gospel brought into the world, and which proclaims healing to the broken-hearted.